As we Americans watch our parades and fire up our grills this 4 July, the 237th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence – the seminal document of the United States – we should take the time to ask ourselves some related questions: how did we come to this state of mind and behavior? How did we become so fearful and timid that we’ve given away essential liberties? Do we realize what we’re giving up? What would the nation’s founders think of us?

Just a note: we’ll be covering the Xbox event tomorrow, May 21 starting at 10a Pacific/1p Eastern/1700UTC. Join Brian Brushwood, the gamer priest, Fr. Robert Ballecer, and me on live.twit.tv. See you then!

The real power behind the yoga ball at TWiT is our CEO, Lisa Kentzell. She just posted a summary of what she did before she joined TWiT over on her blog at lisakentzell.com. I didn’t even know half this stuff.

She’s also been posting a bunch of great pictures on her Google+ page – it’s worth circling her.

This month brings some changes to the TWiT lineup: a new live schedule, a farewell to some old friends, and three new shows.

First the bad news. I am canceling seven shows. I never like canceling a show, but I need to when audience numbers are too low to support them. It’s the part of the media business I like least, but it’s also necessary if TWiT is to continue. Every show I’ve ever worked on was cancelled eventually, so I know how it feels. This month we’ll be saying good-bye to:

Futures In Biotech with Marc Pelletier This is one of the longest running shows on TWiT. I think Marc plans to continue producing shows over at Vincent Racaniello’s TWiV network. Keep up with his plans on Twitter: @marcpelletier

Dr Kiki’s Science Hour and TWiS We all love Dr Kiki and hope to see her regularly for science coverage on other TWiT shows. I know she plans to continue TWiS, so follow her on Twitter for updates: @drkiki.

PCPer This is the official podcast of PC Perspective and will continue at their site. Ryan will continue doing This Week In Computer Hardware with Patrick on TWiT. Get updates at @pcper

This Week In Radio Tech Kirk Harnack and company do a great show, but it turns out not many people are as interested in radio tech as I am. Kirk is going to take the summer off then resume production so follow him for updates: @kharnack.

Trey’s Variety Hour We all love Trey Ratcliff and he will continue to do his hangouts live, but we are going to save some staff time by not re-broadcasting them on TWiT Live. Follow Trey @treyratcliff or his site, Stuck In Customs

TWiT Photo As I’m sure you can tell this was a labor of love for both Catherine Hall and me. I’m not sure why it didn’t gain traction; perhaps it’s because you had to watch the video to appreciate it and most of our audience only listens. I’m hoping an angry mob of devoted viewers will force me to reconsider this one. Follow Catherine on her website.

Goodbye old friends – we’ll miss you for sure. But we’re using the resources freed up by cancelling these shows to produce three new shows, which will debut this month on TWiT.

iFive for the iPhone Sarah Lane will host this quick half-hour show devoted to the iPhone. Each show will feature five tips or apps to help you get the most out of your iPhone. We’ve been doing iPad Today and All About Android for more than a year now. I felt it was time to let the iPhone shine with a show of its own. iFive debuts Monday, July 16 at 11a Pacific/2p Eastern/1800 UTC.

Know How… with Iyaz Akhtar. Each week Iyaz and I will tackle a topic in computing and show you how to do it with hands-on demos. Whether it’s rolling our own cloud, securing your Wi-Fi, or building a PC, Know How… will show you how. Know How debuts Thursday, July 5 at 3p Pacific/6p Eastern/2200 UTC.

This Week In Enterprise Tech Enterprise guru (and Jesuit priest) Fr. Robert Ballecer (aka Friar Tech or @padresj) leads his team in solving the toughest enterprise challenges. Each show will feature a case study and will describe the solutions top IT professionals use to get the job done. While it’s geared toward business technology, we’re going to make sure this show is loaded with information every geek can use. TWiET debuts Monday, July 16 at noon Pacific/3p Eastern/1900 UTC.

Finally, to fill the holes left by our departing shows, and to make our live recording schedule a little more user friendly we’re adjusting the start times for many shows starting July 2. The grid below shows you the live schedule at a glance. Reminder: this is only a change to the live schedule – on demand downloads will continue to be available shortly after the show is recorded.

The biggest change is that Tech News Today is moving to 10a Pacific/1p Eastern/1700 UTC Monday through Friday. Now Tom Merritt and company won’t have to wait for Leo, the perpetually late, any more. And we hope this will get you your daily tech news fix at a better time for your afternoon commute. Never fear, if news breaks later in the day the TNT team will be there to cover it.

You’ll see that The Giz Wiz is moving back to its old time, Tuesdays at 1p Pacific/4p Eastern/2000 UTC. Before You Buy, All About Android, and Ham Nation are moving, too.

We’re also moving a few shows to begin on the hour. I think it’s easier to remember a show that starts at 1p not 1:30p.

I know change can be a little disorienting, and I don’t like to do it too often myself, but I feel these particular changes will help TWiT do a better job giving you the tech news and info you need. I wrote a little mission statement for myself, to remind me what we’re all about here:

TWiT aims to build and sustain an engaged community of technology enthusiasts by offering them the help, news, and information they need to understand and use digital technology.

The TWiT team and I work every day to fulfill this mission. We care about the work we do, and do everything we can to serve you. Thank you for your continued support. I hope we’ll meet at the Brick House some day.

We’re about a month away from moving into our new studios, two blocks away from the TWiT Cottage. (I’m predicting July 24 but we’ll see.) In case you missed the first walkthrough of the building it’s here:

But we’ve come a long way since then. In fact, you can see exactly where we stand on the TWiT Dropcam (thanks to Dane Jasper and the folks at Sonic.net who will be our primary bandwidth provider at the new studios):

Roger Ambrose, our creative director, is painting the floor right now, then we can begin installing lights, cameras, and wiring in earnest. We hope to be broadcasting from the studio around mid-July 2011.

Our brilliant lighting and camera guy, Brent Bye of Ocean Studio has created a Sketchup 3D walkthrough of the place which you can download from our Dropbox.

(You’ll need a copy of the free Google SketchUp program to view and interact with it.) Brent will be updating it over time and we’ll keep the latest version in the Dropbox, so check back.

We have a great many people to thank for help with our new studio, including Crestron for studio automation, Newtek for the brand-new Tricaster XD850 switcher, Telos for our digital Axia audio system, Restoration Hardware for the furniture in the new studio, Bob Heil for our mics and stands, and many many others.

But most of all, I want to thank you, our community, for your perpetual support. There’s no way we could do this without you. And a special thanks to all of you who have bought bricks for our Wall of Honor in the entry foyer. As of today we’ve sold about 800 bricks, but there’s still room to buy a brick for yourself at http://bricks.twit.tv.

The new studio is going to be a major step forward, and your help makes it possible. We’re pretty excited – I hope you are too!!

As previously noted, I was honored and excited to have been invited to this week’s e-G8 summit in Paris, despite Cory Doctorow’s misgivings.

I felt it was important to go and represent the “free and open Internet” faction. It seems to me that we can’t complain about government intervention on the ‘net if we aren’t willing to come to the table and fight for our beliefs, and I had girded my loins for battle.

During the Q&A session, one person asked the French president to “do no harm” when regulating the Internet. “I think what would harm you is not to recognize you as responsible citizens,” Mr. Sarkozy fired back.

Jeff will join us Wednesday from Paris on This Week In Google (1p Pacific/4p Eastern/2000 UTC on TWiT Live) to discuss the deliberations. I’ll follow with interest. I’m sorry to have let our side down, but I’m so glad there’s someone so much more eloquent speaking in my place.

During tapings of “This Week in Tech,” as many as 1,500 people are in chat rooms typing away at a furious pace. Fifteen volunteer monitors around the country keep the chat family-friendly. But sometimes the comments can get tough. Although Mr. Laporte is patient with even the most clueless callers, chat room regulars are not as tolerant.

“We’re making comments like, ‘This person needs to have their computer taken away,’ ” said Lillian Banchik, a Long Island surgeon who is known in the chat room as Dr. Mom.

Dr. Banchik, who listens to TWIT programs 20 hours a week, said she once spent an hour in a private chat with someone who helped her solve a problem with her husband’s iMac.

Many other chat room regulars have serious alternative lives, but like to spend time with the show. Amanda W. Peet, a physics professor at the University of Toronto, goes by Kiwi Nerd. Teresa M. Mensing, an associate professor of geology at Ohio State University, uses the handle Darth Emma.

Thanks to Mark McCrery, Dan Hendricks, Lillian Banchik, Amanda Peet, and Terri Mensing for taking the time to talk with Jon. He clearly understood that it’s the community that makes TWiT happen.

Thanks also to Jim Wilson for the very flattering picture (as my daughter puts it). What a great way to launch into 2011!

Former Digg and Revision3 CEO, serial entrepreneur, and network technology expert, Jay Adelson will join Tom Merritt and me this afternoon at 4p Pacific/7p Eastern/2300 UTC on TWiT Live for an interview.

Ask your questions on Twitter by using the hashtag #twitlive or leaving a comment here.

Great news: Apple will be streaming its event today live at apple.com – finally. Unfortunately the stream will only work with Apple products: iOS 3.0 or better devices or Safari. I suspect that’s because Apple wants to show off its new http streaming capability – perhaps related to an announcement they’ll make today.

We’ll do our own breaking coverage and analysis of the event starting at 12:30p Eastern/9:30 Pacific/1630 UTC at http://live.twit.tv with Andy Ihnatko, Alex Lindsay, Tom Merritt and me. Live coverage will be followed by MacBreak Weekly immediately after Steve leaves the stage.